Zen Dentistry
Koans
Questions not meant to be answered, but to be lived with. Sit with them. Let them work on you.
From the Operatory
診療
Koan I
The Schedule
You built the practice so you could control your time. Now the schedule controls you and you call it success.
Koan II
The Crown Prep
You've done three thousand of them. That's why you're fast. That's also why you stopped asking if this one needed to be done at all.
Koan III
The Lunch Break
You eat standing up, checking labs, answering messages, and call it a break. The break never happened. You just chewed between tasks.
Koan IV
The Patient Who Cancels
You're annoyed she no-showed again. She's terrified and hasn't told anyone why. You're both sitting with the same empty chair, seeing completely different things.
Koan V
The Partner Offer
You dreamed of owning your own practice. Someone finally offered. Now you're lying awake wondering if what you actually loved was the dreaming.